![]() ![]() But without the initial bedding step, that burnishing would occur on a small percentage of the surface area and result in brake noise and power issues. A type of burnishing would occur if a rider took a bike with a new set of pads to the top of a hill and dragged the brakes all the way down. Mikolayunas said mechanical, thermal and chemical transitions occur during the burnishing. Once there is sufficient surface contact percentage, the next step is the burnishing, the transfer of material from pad to the rotor. More surface area contact is created as the pad compound conforms to the shape of the rotor. ![]() “A small percentage gain occurs almost immediately as, under initial clamping pressure, the piston, seal, pad and rotor come into alignment and square with one another,” he wrote. “The amount of surface contact is known as ‘percentage bedding’ and the goal is to maximize this percentage before moving to the second process. “The initial surface area contact of a new brake pad on a new rotor is relatively small,” he wrote in a product document he shared with BRAIN. The first step is the bedding, which increases the surface contact area between the pads and the rotor. Mikolayunas learned that bed-in is actually a two-step process. He’s been reading up on tribology, which is the science of wear, friction and lubrication and also a cunning addition to your industry vocabulary. Mikolayunas said he found little detailed information from bike brake makers on the process, but there is more science in the powered vehicle world. The science of tribologyĪll manufacturers recommend bedding in new pads and rotors by making multiple stops (or near stops) at increasing speeds. ![]() Different pad materials require different amounts of bed-in, which Mikolayunas is working to document. The motor registers the drag from the brake and flashes a light to let the mechanic adjust when the bedding is complete. Dual rollers are positioned to keep bikes stable as mechanics set front or rear wheels on them and step on a foot pedal to start up the 1 horsepower motor that drives the roller. Landry’s now has nine prototype Disco-O-Matics across its locations.ĭisc-O-Matics look a bit like a piece of Ikea furniture, with a hardwood frame and rollers. “If it’s raining or snowing, they might set aside the bikes to do later, but the bikes might get moved somewhere first - things happen,” he said. They get sweaty, they have to come back and take off their helmet to get back into assembly mode,” said Mikolayunas. “These guys are taking bikes out to ride up and down the hill for 10 or 15 minutes. He worked at Landry's for eight years and his new business is near Landry’s Natick location and he’s watched the mechanics at work. And since Landry’s sometimes assembles 400-500 bikes a week, that's no small task, Mikolayunas said. She said students are taught to avoid switching pad materials on a rotor that has already been bedded in.Īt Landry’s Bicycles, the Boston area’s largest retail chain, new assemblies and new pads always get the bed-in procedure. " I teach my students how to properly bed-in disc brakes in a similar manner as SRAM or Park Tool, both of which have videos and detailed directives on how this is best done," she said. " I have no data to say one way or another either about how many shops do a proper bed-in for the customer, but my inner cynic would wager not enough," said Jenny Kallista president of the Professional Bicycle Mechanics Association and owner of the Appalachian Bicycle Institute. Some retailers tell BRAIN that they do the bed-in procedure on test rides. It’s not clear how many shops regularly bed-in replacement pads or rotors, or the brakes on new bike assemblies. Coincidentally, Sinter, the Slovenian brake pad manufacturer, also plans to begin delivering a similar device early next year. Mikolayunas' company,, was set to begin accepting dealer orders this month, with deliveries starting in November. But the shop time and cost savings could be significant, and when it’s snowing or 100 degrees, even the most dedicated mechanic might prefer to stay inside, anyway. It could replace technicians’ mid-day laps pedaling around the neighborhood, breaking in new pads and rotors with starts and stops. If Mikolayunas’ Disc-O-Matic machine becomes a shop staple, mechanics may or may not be overjoyed. (BRAIN) - A veteran of bike retail and supply, Jonas Mikolayunas has devoted the last several years of his career to developing a tool that many bike shops didn’t know they needed: A brake-disc burnishing machine. ![]()
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